Railway-switch.



R. M EVANS.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1. m1.

' Patented Dec.31,1918.

N. Wow 1 k 7 W 9 g X is o0 \NWJH--. w Qi M. 2 \x E W 1, MN

ROBERT M. EVANS, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

RAILWAY-SVVITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

Application fi-led March 7, 191 7. S'erialNo. 152,971.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT M. EVANS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Switches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in railway switches; and its object is to provide a conveniently operable switch which is characterized by being automatically adjustable to accommodate traflio.

With switches hitherto in use, it has been necessary to provide large spaces in which to swing the switch tongues in order to afford room on both sides of the tongues for the flanges of car wheels traveling over the switch. These relatively large spaces are objectionable and oftentimes dangerous to passing vehicles and the hoofs of draft animals which become caught in such recesses between the rails and notably so in urban places.

Such danger and consequent cost due to the incurred damage is dispensed with by the present invention through the provision of' switch tongues which are adapted to operate in small spaces and adjust themselves to the passage of trains without interfering with or endangering general traffic.

To these ends, I provide switch regulating devices comprising spring-pressed means for holding the heel-ends of switch tongues with cooperating devices whereby the tongues are shifted from their point ends, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan View partly broken away, of a split switch embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through 3-3 of Fig. 1, showing the switch-operating lever in a position it will 7 occupy when the switch tongues are about to be shifted; and Fig. 4 is a sectional view through 4% of Fig. 3.

The reference numerals 5, 6 and 5 6 represent the rails of the main track line; 7 7 are the rails of a turn-out; 8, 8 are the usual guard rails, and 9, 9 are the switch tongues, as arranged for a split switch.

The upper or body portions of the switch tongues are formed with side faces 10 which extend from the respective points 11 to knuckles 12, whence they are of advantageously uniform widths to the heel ends 13 of the respective tongues.

Integral with and extending outwardly from the body portions of the respective tongues are flange elements 14 which are adapted to have their outer edges normally abut against the web elements 15 ig. 2) of the adjacent rails 5 and 7 through the agency of helical springs 16 for operating against the heads 17 of push rods 18 which are connected to the respective tongues in proximity to the heels thereof. Provided for said springs and rods are casings 19 which are secured to a track-tie or other rigid support and the casing is provided with a removable covenplate 20, as shown in Fig. 2.

Adjacent to their points, said tongues are united by means of a connecting rod 21 and lengths of pipes 22 and 23 which respec tively serve as distance pieces between the tongues and between each of the latter and nuts 2% engaging screw-threaded portions of the rod.

The pipes 22 between the tongues are desirably connected by an internally threaded coupling sleeve 22 engaging screw threads of the pipes, and which enables their effective lengths to be adjusted to regulate the distance between the tongue points. One end ofthe connecting rod 21 is secured by means of nuts 25 to a frame 26 positioned within a stationary casing 27 at one side of the track.

This frame is in the nature of a plate having two upturned extremities or walls 28 and 28 Slidable transversely of the track-upon the central part of frame 26 and a guide 29, is a block, 30 having adjustable rods 31 and 31 extending from its opposite ends and arranged to encounter the frame walls 28 and 28 when the block is moved in one transverse direction or the other.

To shift this block, I employ a lever 32 which is fulcrumed by a pin 33 which extends into a vertical slot 34 of the casing wall 27 and has a stud 35 engaging in a hole provided in the block.

By swinging the lever about the axis of its fulcrum pin, the block is accordingly moved toward or from the track to correspondingly move the frame and thereby shift the switch tongues.

The rods 31 and 31 of the block are, however, adjusted inthe block so that there will ensue lost motion to the block suflicient to enable the lever to be swung upwardly from its position in the casing 27 and beyond a vertical plane, as represented in Fig, 3, be

fore a block pin, as 31 for example, en-" counters the adjacent wall 28 of the frame 26, whereupon the frame 26 is urged on' ward to throw the switch tongues during the downward movement of the lever ack complished by'a push fromthe operator applied to the end of the lever. r 1 V v To facilitate such movements of the-lever and the parts which are influenced thereby, the lever is provided at its free end with a relatively heavy weight 32 and which is desirably slotted, as at'32 (Fig.3), to receive the operators fingers when raising the lever V preparatory to encountering the load in throwing the switch tongues.

By having the fulcrum pin 33 movable in a vertical slot .34, it is brought into dead center positions with respect to the axis of the connecting rod 21 to lock the tongues in their two extreme positions. 7 v In practice, the casing 27 has hingedly connected to one of its sides a cover plate 37' to close the casing; when thelever is housed therein; V I

The operation of my improved switch'devices may be explained as follows v When a tongue is in theposition of that if indicated by 9 in Fig.1, the face 10 thereof element of the rail and in consequence of,

will bear against the bulb element of the track rail 5while the flange 14:, of the referred-to tongue will bear against the web I being thus juxtaposed with the rail, the

I Copies of this patent may be obtained for tongue is positively held against any outward displacement.

The other tongue ing against the adjacent guard rail 8 while at its heel end it is yieldingly held by the associated spring '16 to have the tongue flange 14 bear against the web element of the rail 7 By reason of the shape of the tongue, there will be but a relatively small space, say one-fourth of aninch, at m between the central portion, approximately,

of the tongue 8 and the rail 7 instead of a wide space, as in the older switch construc- 9 has its point 11 bear- {ration where the tongue point is required to swung a conslderable dlstance to afford clearance for wheel flanges throughout the length of the tongue;

When oars, however, travel over the switch in the direction of arrow y, the flanges of the wheels entering the interstice w thrust the rails apart for the passage of the wheels,

What I claim, is

1. In a railway switch, thejcombination with the switch-tongues, a casing at oneside of the switch, and a shifting bar coupling said tongues and extending into said casing,

of a movable frame'rigidly secured to said bar within the casing I and provided with two end walls, a block slidably mounted on.

said frame, rods adjustably secured to and extending from the ends of said block, and a lever fulcrumed to the casing and engaging the block to actuate the block to cause one or the other of said rods to encounter an end wall of the frame to impart motion to the. latter forshifting the'switch tongues.

2. Ina railway switch, the combination with the switch-tongues, ashifting bar couplingsaid tongues, and a frame serving as an extension to saidbar, said frame being provided-with walls disposed inspaced re-e lations to each other, of a lever, and means shiftable through. the agency of said lever; V and engaging t-h'efr'ame by one of the walls thereof to effect the shifting of the switch tongues during the latter portion of the movement ofthelever, Q V

3. In a railway switch, the combination with the switch-tongues, a shifting bar coupling saidtongues in proximity to their a points, and a reoiprocatory frame opera- E. PETERSON. 1

Washington, this 28th Y tively connectedto said bar, of a lever, ad 1 v justablemeans adaptedto beinfluenced by five cents each, byjaddressing' the (Commissioner of latents, V 7 Washington, LG. a r l 

